DJ MANIPULATE - ROBUST AUDIO TRANSITION (R.A.T.) 12"

And with these words DJ Manipulate's album begins its sonic assault on the listener. Made over 2019–2020, its dystopian atmosphere seems to have perfectly predicted and captured the sense of devastation the coming era would bring. While the album brings a fresh perspective and a much-needed kick to an increasingly artificial cultural period, the warped and distorted aesthetic of R.A.T. pulses with a very human rhythm.

DJ Manipulate has been at the forefront of the underground scratch scene for decades: for 16 years he ran the legendary Community Skratch BBQ in Brighton (UK), came up with the core idea of the international turntable collective Skratchlords, and released countless scratch music productions on various labels (including his own imprint Nause Corps, Nozl, Lordcore, Cut & Paste Records and many more). Rap fans may have heard his cuts on productions on both sides of the Atlantic.

In true Skratchlords style, the album features collaborations on every track, with the cream of the scene from around the world. The line-up is a who's who of premium scratchers who have inspired the progress of scratch music worldwide:

Kodac Visualz (Asthmafunk, USA), Lone Wolf (Nozl, UK), Jimmy Penguin (Alkalinear Recordings, CSM, Eire), Plato and Blam1 (Oslo Flow, Norway), Blood 1 (Surgical Cuts, UK/Sweden), DJ Foly (UK), Fooders (Asthmafunk, USA), Clockwork (UK), Djackulate (Eire), Symatic (UK), Maroon (G.O.D. bandmate, UK), Fidel Cutstro (Surgical Cuts, UK), Miyajima (Japan), Chmielix (Poland), Muzzell (UK), Krotki (Poland) and Redmist (Modusoperandi, Chile).

Mastered by Richard Simpson (Maroon) and cut to lacquer by Curved in the UK, the sound is heavy and the themes are dark. The album's narrative takes the listener on a murky journey, taking sound collage and audio misuse to the next level, with every track created on the turntable using vinyl.

A few words about the cover by Alex Young: as a tribute to a hugely influential punk rock album, the idea of distorting and reinterpreting samples is shown visually through an exceptionally detailed hand-painted cover that somehow makes the original look tame.

Side A:

1: Knock Knock

2: Bones Hope

3: Hive Stung

4: Eyes Reel

5: Beef In The Boozer

Side B:

6: Vibrainer

7: Earape

8: Eons For Days

9: The Brakes Are Fucked

10: Olde Snakey

The digital version includes 6 bonus tracks: Simmer Down, Tigerskin, OJ Memory Chips, Gape Your Lugholes, Clarence The Charmer, Dogs Of War